Apparatus for filling and ramming foundry flasks



Sept. 18, 1951 A. s. BEECH APPARATUS FOR FILLING AND RAMMING FOUNDRY. FLASKS Filed March 10, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 A hum/r e Sept. 18, 1951 -A. s. BEECH APPARATUS FOR FILLING AND RAMMING FOUNDRY FLASKS Filed March 10, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 A. S. BEECH Sept. 18, 1951 APPARATUS FOR FILLING AND RAMMING FOUNDRY FLASKS Filed March 10, 1949 '3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Sept. 18, 1951 APPARATUS FOR FILLING AND RAMMING FOUNDRY FLASKS Austin Sidney Beech, Leighton Buzzard, England, assignortoFoundryEquipment Limited, Leighton Buzzard, England, a British company ApplicationMarch 10, 1949, Serial No. 80,679

' In Great'Brltaln January '28, 1949 ,9 Claims.

The present invention relates generally to apparatus for filling flasks with moulding sand. More particularly, the invention relates to such apparatus in the form of a ramming head of' the type (hereinafter referred to as ,the type described), by means of whichsand is projected into the flask, comprising a substantially .cylindrical casing having a lateral inlet for sand and a peripheral outlet which, when in use, is directed downwards, and a rotor that is rotatable in the casing for projecting sand through the outlet.

Various constructions of high-speed, motordriven sand-filling units or -ramming heads constituting apparatus .of the type described have heretoforebeen proposed, in which the rotor had asingle blade operative during rotation to form the qsand'in the casing into wads and project the wads through the casing outlet, which "blade was slightly concave in the direction of its rotation. In one such proposed construction, a curved blade lying tangentially to the ,rotorbody had two end walls, one adjacent to each side of the casing, one of which was ,for shearing sand from the stream fed into ,the casing, and the other for preventing forward displacement of the sand, both of which end walls were spaced away from the casing.

These proposed ramming heads delivered the wads of sand intermittently with a time interval between each two successive wads dependingon the speed of rotation of the rotor,andthe present invention has for one of its objects to enable a more continuous or substantially continuous stream of sand to be projected by a ramming head of the type described independently of the speed of rotation of the rotor. Another object is to increase the output of sand from a ramming head of the type described as compared with that of a head-of the same size having a single bladed rotor driven at the same speed.

A further object is to provide, in a ramming head of the type described, a bladed rotor of improved construction as described hereinafter for producing a substantially continuous stream of sand propelled by the head.

According to afeature of the present invention there is provided a ramming head for projecting moulding sand into flasks, comprising a substantially cylindrical casing having in aside wall a lateral inlet for sand, and having aperipheral outlet which, when in use, is directed downwardsand a rotor that is rotatable in th e casing for pr ectin sa t r ugh the out wwhich ramming head is characterised in that the rotor is provided at its periphery with a plurality of projector devices arranged to be operative in. succession to project sand through the outlet.

- The projector devices may be situated in a circle coaxial with the axis of rotation of the rotor, and may be so arranged that, when the rotor rotates, they sweep successively past the inlet and successively deliver sand through the outlet of the casing.

Preferably, the projector devices constitute each a projector vessel, each of which vessels is so arranged that, when the rotor rotates, it is placed successively in open communication with the inlet and outlet of the casing.

The rotor may be constituted by a paddlewheel-like structure having the projector devices at its periphery spaced angularly equally apart one from another about the axis of rotation of therotor.

According to another feature of the invention, each projector device is mounted on the body of the rotor so as to bemovable towards and away from the internal peripheral face of the casing.

Preferably, the projector devices are constituted by end portions of impellers of elongated form, and releasable attachment means is arranged to fix each impeller to the rotor, which attachments means, when released, permit the impellers to be adjusted endwise in relation to the internal peripheral face of the casing, and enable them to be rigidly fixed in their position of adjustment.

Conveniently, the rotor has a plurality of substantially tangential seats arranged spaced apart one from another aroundits axis of rotation, and the attachment means adjustably secure the impellers each to one of said seats.

Each impeller and its projector device is preferably of U-section, and has its side limbs of different depth with the deeper side limb sit-- uated adjacentto side wall of the casing having the inlet.

The improved ramming head may comprise a central hollow support, whereof the larger part constitutes agear box, and the smaller part has the rotor journaled on it, a drive shaftthat extends through said support and has one end in driving connection with the rotor, and gearing,

in the gear box for driving the drive shaft and the rotor.

According ,to yet another feature of their:- vention, the rotor has only two projector devices situated diametrically opposite one another.

:.One.:embodiment of thcinvention and a modi-l fication thereof are diagrammatically illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing one construction of ramming head according to the invention -ith; its cover plate. shown open and the wearing plate removed, I I

Figure 2 is a vertical transverse section taken on the line 2-2 in Figure 3, and a Figure 3 is a front elevation of the head Partly in section after removal of itscover plate andwearing plate;

speller 60 is adjustably secured in position in its equipped stud 62"or like fastener that extends Figurel is a detail viewshowingarammer 1, blade or impeller detached fro'mthe rotor, and

Figure 5 is an end view of the impellershown in Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a diagrammatic view "of amodified construction of rotor.

Like reference characters designate likeiparts throughout the several views.

Referringfirst to Figuresl to 5, a substantiallyrcylindrical casing, designated enerally 40, comprises a side wall [2 carried by. acentral hollow support l4, l5, an arcuate peripheral rim or wall l8, and a cover plate 29 of dished formation which may be hinged, as at 2!, to the rim 18. Preferably an annular wearing plate 22 shown in section in Figure 2 but omitted from Figures 1 and 3 for the sake of clarity lies parallel with the side plate I2 and bears against or is integral with the rim [8 which may have a liner (9. "These parts may be secured together in any convenient or known manner. a p

I The central hollow support comprises an external part I4 constituting a gear box, and an internal tubular part It. which is formed as'or provided with the inner race of an anti-friction roller bearing 24, whereof the outer race is carried on or constituted by a hub 26 of a rotor described hereinafter, which hub has an end flange 28. Atwo-diameter impeller drive shaft 30, 3| extends through the central hollow support, whereof the inner end part 3i isreduced and constitutes a stub shaft which drives the rotor. An end fplate 32 has a boss 34, by which it is secured onithe stub shaft 3| by a nut 36. This end plate 132 has a marginal portion that is secured by studs 38 to the fiange 28 of the hub 26, and has an annular rib 40 on which the flanged end of the hub 26 is seated. The other end of the hub has within it a ball-bearing 4|. The outerend of the gear box [4 is journaled by an anti-friction bearing 42 on the larger part 30 of the impeller shaft. Any convenient means may be provided for; driving the impeller shaft. Asillustrated, a bevel pinion 44 fast on the shaft in the gear box meshes with a bevel gear wheel 46 which may be driven in any convenient manner.

The gear box I4 is considerably wider than it is deep. I r Theupper part of the casinghas in the side wall I2 a lateral inlet at 48, and a downwardlydirected outlet is provided at 50. The inlet is preferably provided with a hood or cowl 52, immediately below which is arranged feed means for f supplying sand into the casing. 'As shown broken lines, this feed means may comprise a conveyor of the endless member type having a belt 53 running over a roller 54. 1

The rotor has a circular hollow body portion 56: that is fasten the hub 26, and has within it a plurality of'substantially tangential seats 58 that are spaced apart equally about'itsaxis' of rotation and carry each an impeller 60, of'elonseat by attachmentmeans comprising a nutinto the seat and adjustably clamps the impeller ;rigidly in position in relation to the internal peripheral face 501: the casing, which face may be providedby the liner l9.

Each impeller 60 has an end portion that is 'situa ted adjacent to the rim is or its liner is,

andis a projector device consituting a projector vessel. Preferably the two side limbs 64 and 66 of the channel are of different depth, the deeper limb 64 being situated adjacent to the sidewall l2 having the sand inlet 48, and being arranged slanting outwards slightly as shown in Figures 2 and 5, so that, when in use, it will sweep past the inlet, and will exert a shearing action on the stream of sand entering the head through the inlet'48'. The bottom wall 68 of each impeller forms a blade, and when the rotor, which is a paddle-wheel-like structure, is driven at ahigh speed, each projector vessel receives sand at the inlet 48 and projects it through the outlet 50, thereby producing a continuous stream of'sand for filling and ramming foundry fiasks' and the like. Owing to each impeller being adjustable longitudinally on its seat, wear of each projector vessel can be readil taken up. After opening the cover plate 20 access to the fixing screws 82 of the impellers can be had through the opening at 10 at the middle of, the wearing plate 22.

Various modifications may be made in the details of construction described above without departing from the invention. For example, in

some cases the impellers may beflat or concave blades without the side limbs of the channelshaped members 60 described above. Also, in some cases the wearing plate 22 may be omitted, and if so the coverplate constituting a side wall of the casing will be dished less than asshown inthe drawings.

I claim:

A ramming head for projecting sand into flasks comprising a circular casing, a co-axial rotor therein and at least one straight channel shaped impeller blade of uniform cross-section throughout its entire length and having an operative part and an inoperative root part carried by the rotor, the root part of the blade being clamped within the rotor by releasable clamping means, the operative part projecting outwardly from the rotor towards the circular periphery of the casing, the clamping means being such that the blade is adjustable lengthwise to compensate for wear of the free end of'the opera tive part'of'the blade, thecasing being provided with a lateral inlet for sand close beside the path of the operative part of the blade and with a peripheral outlet." I

2.' A ramming head as set forth in claim 1 wherein the seat within the rotor are slot-like to accommodate the'blade root and the root being held rigidly in the seats when adjusted by a bolt screwedthrough the rotor to bearagainst the blade root. 3.-A ramming head as set forth in claim-'1 wherein the impeller blade slopes backwardly with respect to the direction of motion of the rotor.

4. A ramming head for projecting moulding sand into flasks comprising in combination a circular casing having an inlet in one side close to the outer part of the casing and a peripheral outlet, a hollow rotor co-axial with the casing and havin its hollow interior accessible from one side, at least one impeller blade on the rotor, said impeller blade being of rectilinear channellike form in cross-section and being substantially straight longitudinally and said rotor being slotted in its periphery; to fit the blade and enable it to enter the interior of the rotor but project therefrom toward the periphery of the casing, a seating for said blade within the rotor and clamping means within the hollow part of the rotor to hold said blade on said seating.

5. A ramming head as claimed in claim 4 characterized by the fact that said seating is nonradial with respect to the casing and the rotor to hold the blade in a position at an angle to the radius of the casing and rotor.

6. A ramming head as claimed in claim 4 wherein said seating and the blade held thereon are non-radial with respect to the casing and rotor, said blade having its channel side leading with reference to the direction of rotation of ther comprising a door for a side of the casing adjacent the open side of the rotor.

9. A ramming head according to claim 4 in which the seating and blade supported thereby are tangential to a circle within the rotor, the flanges of the channel blade projecting forwardly in the direction of rotation of the rotor, and the blade sloping rearwardly with reference to such direction of rotation.

AUSTIN SIDNEY BEECH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

